Mr. Natwarlal… Why So Smart?

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The Sunday winter morning was cold and lazy in Delhi. Mr. Natwarlal routinely woke up at 6 A.M. He insisted that his wife, Archana, follow the same routine but she unabashedly denied his proposals. She continued her sleep with the zizz inside the soft blanket that lovingly hugged her from head to toe. The blanket was warm now from her body heat, which was in the end, folded by her feet towards the inside, while its other end was squeezed by her hands tucking it tightly with her body, restricting the slightest wind from entering inside.

Natwarlal headed to the kitchen, murmuring something inaudible, to make his morning tea—the real reason he wanted his wife to follow this routine. He was a disaster inside the kitchen. The utensils would fall on the ground with a loud sound, and there would be constant commotion until he left the cooking area. Everyone would get disturbed, and he held pride in his non-dependency on anybody in the family. At about 6.30 A.M. he would go for his routine morning walks. It would still be dark and the dogs would bark at him for his unconventional attire; a woolen monkey cap encircling his head and neck, a muffler on top of it tied strictly around his neck, and the rest of the areas not covered by the monkey cap allowing only the two eyes and the nose to breathe, the hands under the woolen gloves, woolen socks and the branded sports shoes to protect his legs while the rest of the body hidden inside layers of sweaters, tracksuits and jackets. The finishing touch would be the thick Tibetan shawl made of Yak’s wool which he had bought from a vendor for Rs 3000/- about 4 years ago.

While he crossed several houses, he saw a person climbing the walls of the building of Mr. Sharma’s home. It was the backside of the house. Mr. Natwarlal paused his walk and squinted his narrow eyes to get a clearer vision of the situation and the person. He concluded it was a thief. The unproven ‘thief’ had sunk himself with a cap, jacket, track pants, and shoes; all in black. As soon as the ‘thief’ started to climb the iron steps, Mr. Natwarlal with no regard for consequences, jumped through the bushy fencing of Mr. Sharma’s house to catch hold of the alleged ‘thief’. There was a thump on the ground preceded by a loud cry of Mr. Natwarlal.

The 'thief’ turned back to get a glance at the immediate mishappening and rushed to support Mr. Natwarlal in getting up who on the other hand, shouted in dismay, ‘You scoundrel. A thief. How dare you touch me?’

The person in the black dress removed his monkey cap and shouted back, ‘I am Mr. Sharma and not any thief. I have come here to check the water seepage in the walls caused by recent rainfall. I don’t have time for the later part of the day because of my work schedule. But instead of performing this stunt, you could call me Mr. Natwarlal. Even if it were some thieves, I would take care of it. Now look at you.’

As Mr. Natwarlal tried getting up, he realized he was suffering from severe pain in his right foot and that it was possible to have some bone breakage. Mr. Sharma called an ambulance as well as his family members.

In the ambulance, the irritated and angry Archana, who recently turned 60, blurted out at her husband, ‘Mr. Natwarlal! Why do you play so smart?’

 

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